Wyatt Cotton loves the chance to celebrate with St. Mary’s fans. So when he lost his footing, causing him to slide underneath the netting by the bleachers in the end zone by Pascal Field’s scoreboard Friday night, Cotton was immediately mobbed by several Saints faithful.
His slide came after a 41-yard touchdown run, putting St. Mary’s ahead of Concordia Prep at the start of the fourth quarter. The Saints’ defense did the rest, sealing a 21-14 victory for undefeated and No. 8 St. Mary’s over seventh-ranked Concordia in a MIAA B Conference first-place battle in Annapolis.
“We hung in there, played hard,” St. Mary’s coach Jason Budroni said. “We pulled it out against a really good team tonight.”
The Saints (7-0 overall, 4-0 MIAA B) trailed 14-13, when on third down-and-3, Cotton took the handoff outside the tackle, followed his fullback Cole Meushaw, and cut upfield to the end zone for the lead score. Carson Petitbon followed with the two-point conversion.
Cotton (12 carries, 88 yards), along with Petitbon (15 carries, 106 yards), led the St. Mary’s rushing attack in the second half after struggling in the opening 24 minutes.
“It starts up front, with how those guys play,” Cotton said. “Those guys wore on them all game.”
“We were blocking wrong (in the first half),” said Budroni, an offensive linemen on the University of Miami’s 1989 and 1991 national championship teams. “Once we started blocking the way we were supposed to block it, things picked up.”
There was still nearly a quarter of game time left after Cotton’s score put St. Mary’s up. The Saints’ defense held Concordia’s explosive offense down, constantly pressuring senior quarterback Jordan Brooks (nine-of-24, 131 yards).
When senior defensive back Nick Golini came down with a Brooks pass near midfield with a minute left in regulation, St. Mary’s finally celebrated its biggest victory of the season. The win gives St. Mary’s the inside track for the No. 1 seed for next month’s MIAA B playoffs.
It started auspiciously Friday evening for St. Mary’s, which saw Concordia (6-2, 3-1 MIAA B) recover the opening kickoff. The Saints got a turnover when Gabe Villatoro intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards to Concordia’s four.
Patrick Cary punched it in from three yards out. Concordia responded in the second quarter, getting an eight-yard touchdown pass from Brooks to Darian Hill and Jaedon Alston’s two-yard score for a 14-7 advantage.
Early in the third quarter, Hill left the game in an ambulance with a neck injury after clipping helmets with a St. Mary’s defender on a reception. The game was paused for nearly 30 minutes as Hill was attended to by emergency personnel.
Concordia coach Joe Battaglia said Hill had movement in his extremities. The Saints, who didn’t have top receiver Josh Derry Friday due to injury, had just 23 yards after Hill (four catches, 59 yards) went down.
“I’m not going to make that excuse for it,” Battaglia said. “It’s obviously an emotional deal for sure.”
St. Mary’s brought the game back within 14-13 in the third quarter when Israel Crockett took a pass from Petitbon (seven-of-14 passing, 75 yards) and scooted 22 yards to the end zone. The Saints got the ball back after a quick Concordia series.
Six plays later, Cotton scored and slid.
St. Mary’s lost to Concordia twice last season.
“It’s just who wanted it more,” Saints junior linebacker Bruce Dent said. “We just wanted it more.”
No. 8 St. Mary’s 21 No. 7 Concordia Prep 14
SM - 7 0 6 8 — 21
CP - 0 14 0 0 — 14
First quarter
St. Mary’s - Patrick Cary 3 run (Andrew Marshall kick)
Second quarter
Concordia - Darian Hill 8 pass from Jordan Brooks (kick blocked)
Concordia - Jaedon Alston 2 run (Hill pass from Brooks)
Third quarter
St. Mary’s - Israel Crockett 22 pass from Carson Petitbon (kick blocked)
Fourth quarter
St, Mary’s - Wyatt Cotton 41 run (Petitbon run)
